"I've had it with cute and bratty and spunky roles!" Margie declared
one day, "I'm gonna try playing a mature and serious role in my
next series. Hmph!"
So there it was - her role as a mature and serious (and later
quite bitchy) character in the series WTW II. I thought she was
cool all the same but in some ways, she received 'ehh...'
kind of response from her regular viewers. After all, we were
accustomed to seeing our Margie as forever cute and enthusiastic
and jumpy characters. "Nice try, Margie," her fans told her.
*Note - above is just my imaginary dialogue.
WTW II is the best gambling series I've ever seen. Well, it could
be that I've only seen one gambling series. Yeah, this one. ^_^
Really though, I've seen "Gambling On Life" starring Eddie Kwan
& Fiona Leung and although m'dear Eddie was in it, it wasn't too
memorable. And "The Shell Game II"
might be a little difficult to be regarded as a 100% gambling
series because its focus was on life in general. Hence, I placed
WTW II on top of my list.
WTW II has actions. Has romance. Has some thought-provoking scenes.
Has pretty much everything that other series has. But what it
has the most is those fancy (and at times fake-looking yet still
nice) card tricks and gambling techniques that really entertained
my eyes. Especially since I'm not a card player, I could only
ooh~ and aah~ about whatever was shown in front of me. Cool stuffs.
Question: Is it really possible to kill a person by throwing
a card? If so, somebody teach me how so I can apply that on my
meanie beanie neighbor.
About WTW I, II, & III. It's not really a trilogy. Part III -
'Wong Jeh Ji Jeen' has almost no connection to the first 2 parts.
It stars Simon Yam and Kent Tong. So I guess it's just the title
it has in common with the other 2. I didn't watch it so I can't
talk about it. Is it good?
Part I & II on the other hand, are interconnected. It's just
like "The Shell Game" where II has a direct continuity to I. Both
parts star Nathan Chan, Chun Pui, Yeung Kwan, Joey Man, Gu Hung,
and Jackie Lui. Part I is mainly about how Nathan became such
a great gambler, but he decides to retire happily with his wife
Joey. He is then forced to revoke his retirement in II and also
meets the death of his wife. Gu Hung & Jackie played entirely
different roles in both parts. In Part I, Gu Hung was an one-armed
man who tried to get revenge on Chun Pui. Jackie was his son.
They both died in Part I and were re-casted to appear in Part
II as different characters. (Thanks to JY for the info!)
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The series begins with Hung Fung (Ben Ng) who has been wrongfully
imprisoned for 10 years, thanks to the greedy and deceptive ruler
of the casino world, Cheung Tin Jing (Yeung Kwan). In the
past, Cheung Tin Jing cheated Hung Fung's father out of a business
deal and killed him. He also accused young Hung Fung of a crime
he didn't commit so now Hung Fung is determined to get revenge.
With the help of his loyal servant, Hung Fung breaks free from the
prison. He openly challenges Cheung Tin Jing to a match, betting
on his life.
Knowing that Hung Fung's gambling skills have improved tremendously
over the years, Cheung Tin Jing is uncertain of his victory. He
resorts to inviting his acquaintance Sek Chi Kong (Nathan
Chan), who was regarded as the all-around gambling champion before
he retired. Cheung Tin Jing sends his subject Sang to bring Ah
Kong. Ah Kong, at the time, is on his vacation with his wife Ah
Wai (Joey Man) in Malaysia. When Sang locates him, Ah Kong
refuses to step into the gambling world again because that's what
he promised his wife. But not wanting to completely burn his bridge
with Cheung Tin Jing, Ah Kong half-heartedly comes back to Hong
Kong. There, he meets Cheung Tin Jing's only daughter, Cheung
Sik Yu (Margie Tsang) and her childhood friend, Dik San
(Jackie Lui). They first ask for Ah Kong's help on this match
but when he refuses, they criticize him for being so cold-hearted.
It is not until Cheung Tin Jing fakes a heart attack that Ah Kong
decides to help him finally.
Hung Fung also seeks help from the former gambling master, Lip
Man Lung (Chun Pui). Lip Man Lung used to be the ultimate
gambling king until he was defeated by Ah Kong (in WTW I). Since
then, he has been a lunatic but still retained his skills. Ah
Kong's wife, Ah Wai, has bad sentiments about Ah Kong starting
to gamble again and she tries to stop him in any way she can,
but he reassures her that it'd be his last time. One evening when
she is outside being harassed by mean people, Hung Fung's servant
comes and saves her and brings her to his master. Hung Fung tells
Ah Wai why he is inclined to have this match. Ah Wai then realizes
that Cheung Tin Jing is the evil man, not the other way around.
But before she can notify Ah Kong of this, Cheung Tin Jing locks
her up in his basement until the day of the match so she can't
interfere.
On the day of the match, it is Cheung Tin Jing / Sik Ji Kong
VS. Lip Man Lung / Hung Fung. It gets pretty unpredictable as
to who would win, but Lip Man Lung panics when he sees the same
pattern that Ah Kong used on him to defeat him in the past. At
that time, Sik Yu decides to help Ah Wai escape but on her way
to the casino, Ah Wai gets shot. Hung Fung & Ah Kong are having
a final match when Hung Fung's servant comes in and yells at Ah
Kong NOT to win this one because his wife is dying away. But Ah
Kong proceeds anyway, which gains his side the victory. Now Hung
Fung must give up his life. By the time Ah Kong rushes to Ah Wai
who was being helped by Sik Yu, it is too late. Ah Kong then realizes
that he had been used by Cheung Tin Jing all along. Sik Yu feels
disappointed in her father for this cruelty so she starts to build
rebellious feelings towards him.
Hung Fung is preparing for his death but his servant gives up
his life so Hung Fung could escape. Cheung Tin Jing's men - Sang
and Dik San - chase after Hung Fung, who is rescued by Ah Kong
along the way. Hung Fung gets shot in the back of his neck but
they run away safely. Ah Kong, feeling guilty that he put Hung
Fung into this mess, takes care of his wound. But when the wound
gets unbearable, Hung Fung requests to take drugs, which in turn,
makes him a drug addict. Hung Fung & Ah Kong go separate ways
because Hung Fung doesn't want to deal with Ah Kong. Hung Fung,
after living a beggar-like life, walks into a popular casino ship
managed by a seductive but violent woman, Ah Lan (Suet Lei). He gambles with Ah Lan, wins a couple times, and humiliates
her. When he gambles with her again, he goes through drug withdrawal
symptoms and loses. Ah Lan makes him her personal slave and treats
him very atrociously. But when Ah Lan's foster mother who is the
owner of the casino ship spots Hung Fung, she decides to have
him work for her. Ah Lan's foster mother is another 'big hand'
figure in the gambling business next to Cheung Tin Jing. Hung
Fung then works his way up and harbors an ambition to seek revenge
on Cheung Tin Jing.
Meanwhile, Ah Kong has settled into an extreme solitude upon
Ah Wai's death. He resides in a countryside to find some peace
of mind. There, he befriends a magic chef named Hung Ying
(Gu Hung). Hung Ying is actually Hung Fung's older half-brother
and was a gambling master in the past as well. Hung Ying tries
to motivate Ah Kong to start gambling again because he claims
that once a gambler would always be a gambler. Ah Kong is also
boggled by his rowdy neighbors, Lau Ka Dai (Nick Cheung),
his sisters, and his friend. Overtime, Ah Kong, Ka Dai and etc.
become one big happy family and decide to start up a small mahjong
business. In this process, Ah Kong receives a lot of help from
Sik Yu who has always felt guilty about the death of Ah Wai. And
they slowly fall in love. Ka Dai in the meantime learns some fabulous
gambling skills from Lip Man Lung.
Hung Ying locates his brother Hung Fung and tries to reform him,
but Hung Fung doesn't let go of his bitterness towards Hung Ying.
Hung Fung thinks it's Hung Ying's fault that he suffered 10 years
in prison because Hung Ying refused to take part in revenge at
that time. Hung Ying teaches Hung Fung gambling skills and tries
to get him out of his drug addiction, which doesn't work. By this
time, Hung Fung and Ah Lan have also started to like each other.
Ah Kong then visits his foster mother who also happens to be Ah
Lan's foster mother. Ah Kong is then offered to work for her,
which displeases Ah Lan very much because she doesn't like Ah
Kong.
Dik San desperately tries to earn his boss, Cheung Tin Jing's
favor, but with his short gambling skills, he cannot prove himself
to be useful. Dik San trains himself to become a better gambler
but Cheung Tin Jing simply does not trust him anymore. He even
has a humiliating experience of losing to a newcomer, Ka Dai!
While drinking at a bar one night, Dik San meets a girl who happens
to be Ka Dai's older sister. Upon meeting her several times, he
eventually falls in love with her. Dik San then calls it quits
with Cheung Tin Jing because he is sick and tired of Cheung Tin
Jing treating him like crap. Although his best friends Sang and
Sik Yu hold him back, he leaves to start anew with the girl he
likes.
Very soon, Dik San steps back into the gambling scene with improved
skills and starts consuming all the major casinos around, posing
a threat to Cheung Tin Jing's business. He even wins Ah Lan's
casino ship in his hands. This worries his wife (now that he's
married) but he tells her that it's for the better. While he was
away, he was employed by a mysterious rising power in Southeast
Asia. Under his order, he sweeps up the casinos and alarms Cheung
Tin Jing.
Awhile before this, Hung Fung stirs up a fight between Ah Lan's
foster mom and Cheung Tin Jing to ease his process of revenge.
When Ah Lan's foster mom finds out, he loses her favor. He then
ambushes her and injures her severely, not known to Ah Lan's knowledge.
A match among Ah Kong, Hung Fung, and Cheung Tin Jing is then
arranged since they each have something against one another. They
bet on their lives. Ah Kong gets to be the final winner, Hung
Fung following him. When the judges find out that Hung Fung tried
to get rid of Ah Lan's foster mom using dirty tactics, they sentence
Hung Fung's death. But Hung Fung refuses to die unless he sees
Cheung Tin Jing die before him. Only Ah Kong has the right to
kill Cheung Tin Jing but he can't bring himself to do so because
he owes many things to Sik Yu, his daughter. This makes Hung Fung
upset but there is very little he can do about it since he is
facing his own death - just in time, his older brother Hung Ying
comes to save him.
Ah Lan attempts to avenge for her foster mother by killing Hung
Fung but fails. Hung Fung insults her and kicks her out. It is
then revealed that the mysterious man that Dik San works for is
named Do Tin Lung (Fong Kong). Do Tin Lung used to be blood
brothers with Cheung Tin Jing and Lip Man Lung until the 2 bailed
out on the joint crime they committed in the past, making Do Tin
Lung suffer in prison for many years. He is now determined to
pay back. 'Do Tin Lung' actually means 'to kill Cheung Tin
Jing and Lip Man Lung. His ultimate goal is to get rid
of anyone considered as his obstacle. Dik San is glad to help
him because he too wants to make Cheung Tin Jing suffer, but when
Do Tin Lung tells him that he is nothing but a dog, Dik San is
disheartened. Do Tin Lung successfully drives Cheung Tin Jing
to commit suicide. Although Sik Yu has been on bad terms with
her father, she feels saddened by his death and convinces Dik
San to betray Do Tin Lung and seek revenge for Cheung Tin Jing.
Along with their friend Sang, the three challenge Do Tin Lung
to a match but lose. This costs the lives of Dik San & Sang, leaving
Dik San's pregnant wife grieving. Before Sik Yu is about to get
executed as well, Ah Kong comes and saves her.
Hung Fung is left with pretty much nothing as well. He spots
Ah Lan working at a karaoke bar and feels guilty about her downfall.
He challenges Do Tin Lung to win Ah Lan's casino ship back but
loses. This costs his life as well so he dies in Hung Ying's arms,
telling Ah Lan that he's sorry. Hung Ying then has a match with
Do Tin Lung for his brother's death but loses, dies. Lip Man Lung
does the same, dies. Ka Dai does the same, dies. All this dying
was to provoke Ah Kong and make him participate in gambling again
to defeat Do Tin Lung, but Ah Kong sees gambling as a pointless
deal and doesn't want to do it again. Sik Yu is motivated to do
anything - even being heartless and cold - to make Ah Kong gamble
again. She brings Ah Kong's birth mother from the States and tells
her that Ah Kong was the cause of his wife's death. Ah Kong's
mother loved Ah Wai very much so she wasn't too thrilled to hear
that. She then tells Ah Kong that Do Tin Lung is actually his
birth father. (What the...?!) But the theory Do Tin Lung has is
that in order to be a true gambling king, one has to discard all
family ties.
Ah Kong and Do Tin Lung eventually do have a match. The secret
to Do Tin Lung's victory has been that he had an electronic circuit
inserted into his brain that would help him read what cards his
opponents have. But in this match, Ah Kong uses a very simple
trick that would overturn Do Tin Lung's calculations. From the
shock of losing, Do Tin Lung goes crazy and his brain explodes.
In the end, Sik Yu asks Ah Kong to help her with her business
but Ah Kong tells her that he will never, ever take part in the
gambling business again. By this time, his feelings with Sik Yu
have cooled down completely and he has no lingering attachments.
Sik Yu figures that if she can't have Ah Kong on her side, she
might as well get rid of him - she orders her men to aim their
guns at Ah Kong's back as he is walking away, but cannot bring
herself to kill him. She only watches as Ah Kong drifts farther
and farther away...
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I paid great attention to summarizing the first few episodes because
I thought the part leading up to where Joey Man dies was the
most exciting part of the whole series. Throughout the series,
the plot is still fairly well-developed but gets really jumbled
up and confusing (for me at least) towards the end. Especially
in the end when everyone just gambles and loses their lives, I
was like x_x HUH?! And the relationship between Nathan and Margie
died out pretty quickly too. Even bigger HUH.
I don't get why people said Margie was mean and bitchy towards
the end. It's not like I don't DISAGREE with that, I just don't
UNDERSTAND it, period. Was she not how her character was supposed
to be? I thought she did what she was supposed to do. And Nathan
got mad at her for that. Hmm. Maybe I'm just dumb.
Despite my lack of total comprehension, WTW II still came across
as one of the most compelling modern dramas I've seen. Many gambling
scenes and side stories (of Ben Ng, Suet Lei, and Jackie Lui)
held me anxious for the most part. I think I almost disliked the
series after Ben & Jackie died around episode 25 - maybe that's
why I didn't understand the ending too well.
Most beloved main character - Definitely Ben Ng. I find
him the most fully developed character in the whole series. Everything
he did was clearly based on one motive - revenge - and that was
something I could empathize with. Any normal person would go insane
if he/she was locked up in prison for 10 years with no reason.
Ben's character had every right to do what he did, not that I'm
saying it was necessarily tolerable. But think about it - if his
youth rotted away in prison during the times he needed to be shown
guidance and discipline the most, would you expect him to behave
normally and be civil?
What made Ben's character even more likeable was the fact that
he had a good nature, particularly obvious before his death. What
he did to Suet Lei was really mean, but he compensated by attempting
to get her casino ship back and losing his life for that action.
That noble deed made me understand him as a gray character that
just needed a lot of affection. Too bad it didn't work out between
him and Suet Lei, because I do think they truly liked each other.
Most beloved side character - Jackie Lui. This was the
first series I ever saw Jackie in. He has got to be the one with
the nicest body besides Terry Fan! =P Heh.. more seriously though,
Jackie is portrayed as a handsome character in the series. Looked
good in tux. Rode motorcycles. Had decent gambling skills. Could
fight well. Was a good friend to Margie. His only flaw was ever
wanting to be recognized by his boss. Sought affection from the
person he shouldn't have. And eventually died while trying to
avenge for this man that didn't deserve half the loyalty he had.
I had a hard time digesting his death because it happened so abruptly
and pointlessly.
Therefore, I pity him the most out of all characters as well.
Poor Jackie. T_T
Most behated - Oooh... there are lots. Too many to name.
You can assume that except for the 2 mentioned above plus Suet Lei, I hate every character in some aspect. But if I were to pick
just one, it'd be Joey Man.
Once a gambler, always a gambler. This statement holds true for
most people. From what I saw, Nathan loved gambling. That's what
he was good at. What Joey did was to take away his passion. Yeah,
being a gambler is dangerous. Yeah, you can't always be a winner.
But I think Nathan had enough knowledge and sense to figure that
out. Maybe Nathan was better off not gambling at first, but I
do not know for sure if that would've lasted. The truth I gathered
was that Nathan was a gambler all his life, and it wasn't something
he could stop being all of a sudden upon someone's request.
Life is a double-edged sword. Both good things and bad things
can occur. Being a gambler works the same way - there are many
downsides to it but if that's what makes you happy, so be it.
Nathan wasn't just any gambler, he was a good gambler.
Was there really a reason for Joey to make him stop gambling,
if it weren't for her happiness? Wasn't that even a bit
selfish of her to do that?
I don't believe it's Nathan that set Joey's demise. She brought
it upon herself. Had she not shown such a strong adversity for
him to start gambling again, she would've not been killed. But
because of her death, Nathan's life just crashed. And all throughout
the series, he believed that it was because of gambling. This
caused him to not gamble when he was actually supposed to, especially
towards the end when every character died on purpose just to bring
him out. So Nathan lost my favor in the end as well.
Beloved couple - Nathan & Margie. Perhaps the fact that
they were real-life lovers at one point contributed to this opinion
but they did look good together. ^_^
Beloved scene - Right after Joey dies, Ben & Nathan collaborate
for a brief time and escape together. I thought that was the coolest
scene out of all. It's always nice to watch 2 enemies working
together. Alas, the scene didn't last long, as Ben refused to
be helped by Nathan. That stubborn jackass. >=(
Who would Clair marry if she could choose any guy in
this series? - Hmm... believe it or not, probably Nathan.
I pretty much have only 3 available (and young) guys for my choices
- Nathan, Ben, or Jackie. Ben's kinda messed up in his head so
I pass. Jackie was a good husband to his wife but he harbored
ambitions that were beyond his skills so at times, it was dangerous
to be with him. For his wife that is. With Nathan, I'd most likely
slap him a couple thousand times if he were my friend, but as
a husband, I give him an A because he really cared about his wife
and tried to make her happy. If I were his wife, I would not be
like Joey Man's character and stop him from gambling altogether.
Hence there would be no need for Nathan to please me by not gambling.
Yeah so, happy marriage to me & Nathan. =D
So, who's the winner? - No one is really a winner in this
series although Nathan was the champion once again. He lost more
than what he gained. But just for the fun of it, here is the ranking
of the top gamblers:
Nathan > (greater than) Gu Hung = (about the same level as) Chun Pui (greater than) > Ben Ng. Why doesn't Nathan's dad count? Because
he freakin' had a computerized brain! Even I would win if my brain
was set up that way. Cheater cheater. Disgusting in a way too.
Would Clair write about WTW I & III as well? - Probably
not. I wouldn't be too excited about seeing Joey Man dominating
the screen in part I for the most.
Additional resource: Up
Close with Margie Tsang. It's a great site. Has tons of info
and pictures of Margie, including from this series. It also has
a very cute picture of her and Eddie Kwan, not that it's relevant
to anything I'm talking about here. I'm so jealous of the webmaster.
=(
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